Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Special educational needs coordinator to deputy head teacher

A special educational needs coordinator already meets 61% of what the deputy head teacher role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From special educational needs coordinator
61 % overlap
Strong match
To deputy head teacher
24 You already bring
5 Still to learn
44 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

42.4/ 100

1 How much of what a deputy head teacher is expected to do is already part of a special educational needs coordinator’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the deputy head teacher role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A deputy head teacher role treats 12 of its required skills as things a special educational needs coordinator already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • assist in the organisation of school events
  • cooperate with education professionals
  • curriculum objectives
  • curriculum standards
  • education administration
  • education law

What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 24 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A deputy head teacher role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a special educational needs coordinator background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held manage student admissions management skills
  • already held provide education management support management skills
  • already held provide feedback to teachers communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held manage government-funded programmes management skills
  • already held apply for government funding information skills
  • already held promote education programmes communication, collaboration and creativity

All 24 carried skills, including the 12 the deputy head teacher role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 20 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 5 supplementary
  • still to learn communicate with youth required
  • still to learn write work-related reports required
  • optional, not held liaise with board members optional
  • optional, not held develop professional network optional
  • optional, not held maintain relations with children's parents optional
  • optional, not held manage contracts optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
02 management skills 2 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn supervise educational staff required
  • still to learn maintain students' discipline required
  • optional, not held assess the development of youth optional
  • optional, not held analyse staff capacity optional
  • optional, not held monitor student's behaviour optional
03 education 1 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn pedagogy required
  • optional, not held learning technologies optional
  • optional, not held kindergarten school procedures optional
  • optional, not held primary school procedures optional
04 business, administration and law 3 supplementary
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held labour legislation optional
  • optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
05 information skills 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held lead inspections optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a deputy head teacher role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 24 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
  • already held cooperate with education professionals skill
  • already held curriculum objectives knowledge
  • already held curriculum standards knowledge
  • already held education administration knowledge
  • already held education law knowledge
  • already held guarantee students' safety skill
  • already held monitor educational developments skill
  • already held present reports skill
  • already held project management knowledge
  • already held provide education management support skill
  • already held provide feedback to teachers skill
  • already held advise on lesson plans skill
  • already held advise on teaching methods skill
  • already held apply for government funding skill
  • already held assessment processes knowledge
  • already held create a financial report skill
  • already held escort students on a field trip skill
  • already held evaluate education programmes skill
  • already held funding methods knowledge
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held manage government-funded programmes skill
  • already held manage student admissions skill
  • already held promote education programmes skill
15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held assess the development of youth optional
  • optional, not held learning technologies optional
  • optional, not held liaise with board members optional
  • optional, not held analyse staff capacity optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held develop professional network optional
  • optional, not held kindergarten school procedures optional
  • optional, not held labour legislation optional
  • optional, not held lead inspections optional
  • optional, not held maintain relations with children's parents optional
  • optional, not held manage contracts optional
  • optional, not held monitor student's behaviour optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
  • optional, not held primary school procedures optional
  • optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
19 held skills the deputy head teacher role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role behavioural disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role communication disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role coordinate educational programmes skill
  • not needed by the target role develop organisational policies skill
  • not needed by the target role development delays knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability types knowledge
  • not needed by the target role follow research on special needs education skill
  • not needed by the target role government policy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role identify education needs skill
  • not needed by the target role instructional strategies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role learning difficulties knowledge
  • not needed by the target role learning needs analysis knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage resources for educational purposes skill
  • not needed by the target role organise projects to fill education needs skill
  • not needed by the target role provide specialised instruction for special needs students skill
  • not needed by the target role screen reader knowledge
  • not needed by the target role special needs education knowledge
  • not needed by the target role work with virtual learning environments skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn pedagogy required
  • optional, not held learning technologies optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held kindergarten school procedures optional
  • optional, not held labour legislation optional
  • optional, not held primary school procedures optional
  • optional, not held secondary school procedures optional
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a special educational needs coordinator become a deputy head teacher?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A special educational needs coordinator already covers 61% of what a deputy head teacher is expected to do: 24 skills carry over, 12 of which the deputy head teacher role treats as required.

What skills does a special educational needs coordinator need to become a deputy head teacher?

5 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is supervise educational staff.

How hard is the move from special educational needs coordinator to deputy head teacher?

Its learning distance is 42.4 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.